If Sarah Palin Weren't a Fanatic, I Might Feel Sorry For Her

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Todd Purdum's excoriation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin comes as close to making me feel as sorry for her as any gently disguised screed possibly could. When Sen. McCain first chose her as his running mate, I thought it was a stroke of genius. Then she opened her mouth, completing the transition from strong, successful woman to evangelical extremist. The nadir was Palin's Katie Couric interview, in which she waxed poetic about the history of our great country, while dodging the question, "Besides Roe v. Wade, are there any other Supreme Court decisions you disagree with?"

The Purdum piece offers juicy nuggets as follows:

Palin is unlike any other national figure in modern American life—neither Anna Nicole Smith nor Margaret Chase Smith but a phenomenon all her own. The clouds of tabloid conflict and controversy that swirl around her and her extended clan—the surprise pregnancies, the two-bit blood feuds, the tawdry in-laws and common-law kin caught selling drugs or poaching game—give her family a singular status in the rogues' gallery of political relatives. By comparison, Billy Carter, Donald Nixon, and Roger Clinton seem like avatars of circumspection. Palin's life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure.

Gov. Palin is a woman on a right-wing mission. She's clearly not ready for prime time. She's easy grist for any journalistic mill. If she weren't such a fanatic, I could feel sorry for her. But since she enjoys killing moose, wolves, and anything else in her rifle sight, I'll pass, thanks.

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